Sizzle and dazzle show

Patnaites need not cross the oceans to catch a glimpse of Hong Kong's Symphony of Lights or New York's Times Square. They can just head to Gandhi Maidan every evening.

Installation of dynamic colour-changing (red, green and blue-RGB) LED lights at SK Memorial Hall is over, marking completion of the first phase of the much-awaited scheme of illuminating prominent buildings around the Maidan.

The dazzling LED lights at the hall change 16,000 colours in six to seven hours of their operations every evening, starting from sunset. The effect of illumination on the building is visible from a minimum radial distance of three kilometres.

"Work on installation of dynamic LED lights has been completed at SK Memorial Hall. These lights change 16,000 colours. Similar lights would be installed at Collectorate building and Darbhanga House (Kali Ghat), Udyog Bhavan and Biscomaun Bhavan in the second phase," said Naveen Kumar, the deputy general manager of Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC).

In January 2012, BSTDC issued the work order for installation of the lights at SK Memorial Hall to AMS, a Ghaziabad-based firm, for Rs 65 lakh.

"We used Philips luminaries for installing these lights that emit 10 million combinations of RGB. A computer-based set-up controls the colour combination. We have installed similar lights at Kargil Memorial at Jaipur, Purana Quila at New Delhi and Vidhan Sabha at Hyderabad," said Ravi Shankar, a consultant engineer at AMS.

He added that work on installation of the LED lights at Darbhanga House has been completed and they are just awaiting power supply.

A total of five buildings around Gandhi Maidan ' SK Memorial Hall, State Bank of India, Biscomaun Bhavan, hotel Maurya and Twin Tower ' were selected under the LED light illumination scheme.

Hotel Maurya and Twin Tower on the southern side of Gandhi Maidan are privately owned, whereas SK Memorial, SBI and Biscomaun Bhavan are public sector buildings.

"Different firms have been selected for installing these lights on the buildings. Agencies selected for installation of LEDs are providing the requisite infrastructure, including the LED lights and wires, and BSTDC pays electricity charges for running these lights except for government buildings. For buildings owned by the state government or other public sector authorities, the power charges are to be borne by the respective government agency," said a senior BSTDC official.

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